GILBERT OF SEMPRINGHAM, St. – Ascetic and founder of the Gilbertine Order, he occupies an important place in the revival of religious Orders in the 12th century. Born at Sempringham in Lincolnshire about 1083–85, son of the English knight Jocelin and a Norman mother, he studied in France and, on returning to his homeland, devoted himself to the education of abandoned youth. He received two benefices from his father, but distributed their revenues to the poor, living in the household of the bishop of Lincoln, Robert Bloet, and his successor Alexander, by whom he was ordained priest about the year 1123 and shortly afterwards appointed parish priest at Sempringham.
He founded his Order between the years 1131–1135, gathering in his father’s house seven poor girls to whom he gave religious vows, dedicating them exclusively to the contemplative life. Later he added lay sisters for domestic offices and lay brothers for fieldwork. At the general chapter of Cîteaux (1145–46) he met St. Bernard and Eugenius III and offered the Cistercians the spiritual direction of his new Order. When they declined, he added a new branch to his institution, the Canons Regular, for the spiritual care of the monasteries. Later he himself entered the Order, promising obedience to Roger of Sempringham, the first superior general. He supported Thomas Becket against Henry II, for which he suffered persecution, only escaping through the personal esteem in which he was held by the king. He also endured the calumnies of some of his own religious but was defended before Pope Alexander III by all the bishops. He founded 13 monasteries, of which 9 were double houses and 4 for men only. He died a centenarian at Sempringham on 4 February 1189 and was canonized by Innocent III on 11 January 1202.
His writings include the statutes of the Order, a letter to his religious, and some discourses.